Our free and printable Special Letter Worksheets will come in handy when you start teaching your child to read. There are 11 worksheets you can use to cover a range of unusual letter sounds that your child will need to learn to recognize.
Special Letter Worksheets
These letter worksheets focus on instances where letters produce sounds different from their phonics sound.
Letter C – This letter usually makes a /k/ sound as in the word cake. However in some instances the letter c makes the softer /s/ sound as in the word city. In most cases this occurs when ‘c’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’. You can point out the different pronunciations of the letter C with this worksheet.
Letter G – This letter usually makes a /g/ sound as in the word gorilla. This worksheet provides some examples where the letter g makes the softer /j/ sound as in the word giraffe. In most cases this occurs when ‘g’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’. You can point out the different pronunciations of the letter G with this worksheet.
Letter Y – This letter usually makes a /y/ sound as in the word yellow. The letter y is also capable of making a long e sound as in baby and it can make the /i/ sound as in the word sky. You can use these two letter y worksheets to practice these alternate sounds.
Long Vowel Sounds Worksheets
If your child is comfortable sounding out simple words, the ‘super e’ rule might make a logical next step.
These worksheets introduce children to one of the most important concepts in English – that when a vowel is followed by a consonant and then an ‘e’, the vowel takes the long form in pronunciation and the ‘e’ is silent.
If this sounds confusing, think of how the addition of ‘e’ changes the pronunciation in these word pairs: ‘hat & hate’, ‘pin & pine’ and ‘hop & hope’.
One way of introducing this concept is to say that the ‘e’ ‘makes the vowel say its own name’.
Silent Letter Worksheets
Introduce your child to silent letters with these two worksheets
Letter K – The letter K usually creates the sound as in the word kangaroo. However it can also be silent as in the words knot and knee.
Use this worksheet to identify when k is silent and when it is not.
Letter L – The letter L can also be silent as in the words walk and calf.
Plural Letter S Worksheet
Most words in English can be made plural simply by adding an ‘s’. This worksheet features six words that have been made into plurals by the addition of an ‘s’ at the end.
